Incumbent Witherow: Experience 'very rewarding'

Port Jervis City Court Judge Matthew Witherow is seeking a second six-year term on the bench.

Robert De Mono

Port Jervis City Court Judge Matthew Witherow is seeking a second six-year term on the bench.

Judge Witherow, a Democrat, has presided over City Court since January 2009. During that time, he says, he has found it especially rewarding to serve the community in which he was born.

"In my experience as a prosecutor, I really felt like I was making a difference at the county level." Witherow said. "But to be able to come home to Port Jervis, to my hometown, and to sit as judge, and make decisions that impact the quality of life of our community ... It has been very rewarding for me."

It is especially rewarding, according to Witherow, to have a hand in shaping the futures of the region's youth. In New York, Witherow noted, the age for criminal responsibility is 16. But young offenders, he added, lack maturity. "What I like to do in those particular cases is have them serve the community."

When a young defendant, a high school student, stood before him, Witherow could have imposed a fine that would have been promptly paid and easily forgotten, he said. Instead, he opted to give the teen an opportunity to perform community service.

"I never really knew the impact that it had on him until about two years later," the judge recalled. "His mother stopped me as I was walking into my office. She showed me a picture of her son, who had graduated from boot camp and had become a United States Marine. She said the experience he had in court in front of me, and the opportunities that I gave him, led him to make the decision to join the Marines and serve our country."

Prior to becoming City Court judge, Witherow worked for nine years as an assistant district attorney in Goshen.

"Coming into the District Attorney's Office fresh out of law school (SUNY Buffalo School of Law), the first thing I had to learn was how to think on my feet in a courtroom in a real-life situation," he said. "As a prosecutor, you have a hundred cases on a particular day on a criminal calendar. It gave me the ability to manage a caseload."

"I think a judge also needs to be fair and really needs to listen to both sides on a case, so that even if one side might not be happy with a decision, they're not going to be left with a feeling that they didn't have their day in court," Witherow said.

The most difficult decision of all, he added, is "to take away someone's freedom by incarcerating them."

Witherow has a firm belief in the revitalization of the city.

"I love the people in Port Jervis, the pride that the community has in the town," he said. "Certainly, the business district has seen some better days, but I'm inspired by Mayor Decker and his initiatives, and I really believe Port Jervis can return to the hardworking city that it once was back in the days of the railroad. It is just such a beautiful area. I think it's a great place to raise a family and live."

Witherow lives in Port Jervis with his wife, Liz. They have two children, Joshua and Emma. He wishes to thank his family for their continued love and support.

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